1. Field of the Invention
The present invention belongs to a field of electric connectors which are covered by shells for shielding and wherein connection parts for connecting with counterpart connectors are provided in multiple stages, and in particular, relates to the coupling structure of the shells for shielding.
2. Related Art
As for electric connectors of this kind, for example, Japanese Patent unexamined publication gazette 2000-260515 disclosed in the past an electric connector comprising a body made of an insulator, and an outer wall shell and an inner wall shell both being made of a conductor. In this body, on the front side thereof, connection parts having terminals and being to be connected with counterpart connectors are arranged in stages in the height direction. The outer wall shell is put on the body to shield the connection parts and is provided with an opening on the front side. The inner wall shell is provided to partition the connection parts and comprises an intermediate part forming the front side face and partition parts extending from both sides, in the height direction, of the intermediate part towards the rear side. Both the ends, in the width direction, of the intermediate part of the inner wall shell are provided with a convex part extending in the width direction. These convex parts are fastened with concaved parts formed in the front side end of the outer wall shell, and the coupling strength between the outer wall shell and the inner wall shell is secured by them.
When counterpart connectors are connected to this electric connector and the electric connector is subjected to prying forces exerted by the counterpart connectors, the coupling parts of the outer wall shell and the inner wall shell may be damaged by these prying forces. It, therefore, is keenly desired to enhance the coupling strength of these members as much as possible.
The present invention was made in view of these points, and its primary objective is to significantly enhance the coupling strength between the outer wall shell and the inner wall shell by deeply fastening at least one end, in the width direction, of the intermediate part of the inner wall shell to the outer wall shell at two locations being staggered in the height direction of the outer wall shell and, in turn, to enhance the anti-prying strength against prying forces exerted by the counterpart connectors and reliably prevent the electric connector from being damaged.
To accomplish the above-mentioned objective, the electric connector according to the present invention is an electric connector comprising a body made of an insulator, wherein on the front side, connection parts having terminals and being to be connected with counterpart connectors are arranged in stages in the height direction, an outer wall shell made of a conductor, the outer wall shell being to be put on the body to shield the connection parts and having an opening on the front side, and an inner wall shell made of a conductor, the inner wall shell being provided to partition the connection parts and comprising an intermediate part forming the front side face and partition parts extending from both ends, in the height direction, of the intermediate part towards the rear side, both the ends, in the width direction, of the intermediate part of the inner wall shell are extended and fastened to the outer wall shell, and at least one end is formed into an approximately-U-shaped thrust-in part rising from the front side towards the rear side when seen in the width direction, and two top ends on the rear side of this thrust-in part are fastened into two slits formed in the outer wall shell.
In this electric connector, as the inner wall shell is fastened to the outer wall shell at both ends, in the width direction, of the intermediate part thereof, a coupling strength between the outer wall shell and the inner wall shell can be secured. In this case, as two top ends of a thrust-in part being formed on at least one end, in the width direction, of the intermediate part of the inner wall shell are fastened into the two slits of the outer wall shell, the area of the fastening parts is greater than that of the conventional connectors, and in turn the coupling strength between the outer wall shell and the inner wall shell is improved proportionately. As a result, the anti-prying strength against prying forces that are exerted by the counterpart connectors is enhanced, and the electric connector is reliably prevented from being damaged. Moreover, when the outer wall shell is fitted onto the body, the coupling strength between the outer wall shell and the body will be enhanced much more, and the anti-prying strength against the prying forces exerted by the counterpart connectors will be increased much more and the electric connector will be more reliably prevented from being damaged.